When did your computers last get a checkup?

The Deck Log, Issue 2

1. Log Entry

Position: day 14. Morale: solid. Coffee reserves: stable.

Two weeks into beta, and it's been a roller coaster. The educational kind, where you yell a little on the drops and get off knowing more than when you got on.

I spent most of my career in IT, and IT runs on being invisible. People only want to see the IT guy when something's broken, and even then they don't really want to see him, because he usually brings news like "it'll be a few hours" or "did you save it first?" We're doctors for computers, and nobody ever schedules the checkup.

So marketing has been the hardest thing to learn. After years of doing my best work when nobody noticed, I now have to ask people to notice. My rule so far: make the thing I'd want to see if I were on the other side. Less shouting, more showing.

That's how the Video Guides section on nerthos.com came about. Four so far: a tour of Nexus, a tour of My To-Do, and one each for the Client Suite and the Inventory Suite. More are coming as I get better with the audio tools, which, like everything else this month, I learned by doing it wrong first. The goal is simple: you shouldn't need a sales call to see how something works.

The other thing I'm proud of: the Inventory Suite is in. It was nearly done when beta opened and landed about a week later, which in software counts as early. It tracks stock, scans barcodes, follows lot and serial numbers, and lets a build kit on a task or project use up its parts as the work gets done. Because it lives inside Nexus, the parts, the job and the people doing it are in one place. If your business touches parts, stock or kits, the Inventory Suite tour shows how it fits. Reply if you'd like me to walk you through it.

2. Changelog

Added: The Inventory Suite, to the beta (October 26). Stock tracking, barcode scanning, lot and serial numbers, scrap, and build kits tied to tasks and projects. Every beta workspace has it.

Added: Video Guides on nerthos.com. Four tours so far: What is Nexus (8 minutes), My To-Do (3 minutes), the Client Suite and the Inventory Suite (9 minutes each). Watch them here.

3. From the Desk

Two posts went up since the last issue, and they turned out to be about the same thing from two directions: what a business loses when it stops looking at the people doing the work.

The newer one is about AI. A lot of companies bought it to replace people and are now quietly hiring them back. Ford brought in about 300 veteran engineers after its AI tools missed the problems those engineers would have caught. The post covers what the research says AI is good at, where it confidently isn't, and why the people who know the job should decide whether its work is good enough. Sold as a helper, bought as a replacement.

Also from the desk:

The raise that wasn't in the budget. A helpdesk tech became a systems engineer on the job, got a new title instead of a raise, and replacing him cost double. Plus a one-sheet exercise for Monday.

4. Out There

Three things from the security and Microsoft world. What happened, what I think, and one thing to do.

The apps your IT company plugged in years ago

On October 21, Microsoft said a China-aligned group it calls Storm-0940 used stolen identities belonging to several ConnectWise cloud apps, including its backup and Teams connectors, to try signing in to more than 2,250 Microsoft 365 organizations (Microsoft Security Blog). ConnectWise posted its own advisory on October 16. Plenty of IT providers use these tools to manage and back up their customers, so if someone else runs your IT, apps like these may be connected to your Microsoft 365. Microsoft notes that having one installed doesn't mean data was taken.

Here's what I think. Every Microsoft 365 account collects connected apps the way a kitchen drawer collects keys. The backup tool, the old scheduling app, that trial from 2021. Each one got permission to read mail or files the day somebody clicked Accept, and most of them still have it. Attackers worked out that borrowing a key that's already approved is easier than picking the lock, and two-step sign-in doesn't help, because the app signs in as itself. This isn't on the IT providers; it was a supply chain hit. But "who has a key to our building?" is a question every owner asks about the front door and almost nobody asks about Microsoft 365.

Do this: Ask your IT provider two questions this week: do we have any of the ConnectWise apps Microsoft listed, and when did you last review what's connected to our Microsoft 365? If you run it yourself, check Enterprise applications in the Microsoft Entra admin center and switch off anything nobody can explain. Microsoft says disable, don't delete, so there's a record.

Starting November 4, anyone in your Microsoft 365 can make an AI agent

Microsoft's message center says that starting November 4, regular users in Microsoft Entra can create "agent blueprints," the starting point for AI agents that work inside your Microsoft 365, unless an admin turns the setting off (MC1506733). The rollout finishes by late November, and agents that already exist aren't affected. If your business runs on Microsoft 365, this default is being changed for you.

Here's what I think. I'm not against AI agents. I built AI into Nexus. But the person who turns AI on should be someone who meant to, not whoever clicked first. "On for everyone" means you find out you have agents the way most owners find out they have 40 apps: when the bill or the problem shows up. In Nexus, AI starts switched off, an admin turns it on for the workspace, and nothing changes until a person accepts what it drafted. Microsoft's default makes sense for a big company with an IT team watching. For a ten-person shop, it's a door left open.

Do this: Decide on purpose. If you're not ready, an admin can go to the Microsoft Entra admin center, then Entra ID, Users, User settings, and set "Users can create agent blueprints" to No. Change it before the rollout reaches you and it holds. You can turn it back on any time.

The invoice for office supplies you never ordered

The Better Business Bureau is warning about fake invoices and renewal notices heading into the holiday rush (KY3, October 13). In BBB's latest Scam Tracker Risk Report, invoice scams were the second-riskiest scam reported by businesses, with a median loss of $532. The common version is a small office supply bill made to look like it came from a vendor you already use. Anyone who pays bills is the target, and November and December are when the stack gets tall.

Here's what I think. The $532 is the clever part. It's small enough to pay without thinking and too small to fight about. Scammers aren't betting you're careless. They're betting you're busy, and in December everybody is. The fix isn't paranoia. It's being able to answer, in about thirty seconds, whether you buy from this vendor and what you agreed to pay them. When the vendor list and the contracts live in one place, "did we order this?" is a lookup instead of a hallway poll. That's part of what Nexus is for.

Do this: Name two people who can approve and pay invoices, and have everyone else forward bills to them. Before paying a new vendor, or an old one with new bank details, call the number you already have on file, not the one on the invoice.

5. Bright Spots

One piece of good news, because you get plenty of the other kind.

National Veterans Small Business Week is November 9 to 13

The SBA's National Veterans Small Business Week runs November 9 to 13, with a focus for each day: manufacturing and agriculture, supply chain and federal contracting, Veterans Day, capital and financing, then training and resources (SBA). SBA points veteran owners and military spouses to Boots to Business for planning, and to Veterans Business Outreach Centers for help with business plans, marketing and government contracting. Events are listed under #NVSBW26.

Here's what I think. I'll own my bias: Nerthos is veteran-owned, and I'm partway through the SAM.gov registration and the SBA's veteran certification right now. The Navy prepared me for a lot of things. It did not prepare me for SAM.gov. Paperwork aside, the help out there for veteran owners is real, and plenty of veterans running a shop or a side business don't know their local outreach center exists. If that's you, or someone you served with, that week is a good excuse to look one up. And if it isn't, Veterans Day is November 11. Buy something from a veteran-owned business that week.

6. One Ask

Tell me one thing in your business that only one person knows how to do.

Hit reply. No names needed. I read every reply, and the answers shape what gets built next.

Kevin Haysmer, Founder, Nerthos

Sources

1. Microsoft Threat Intelligence, Storm-0940 uses ARTEX agentic AI in ConnectWise supply chain compromise, October 21, 2026.
2. Microsoft 365 message center MC1506733, Review who can create agents in Microsoft Entra, published October 13, 2026, change starts November 4, 2026.
3. KY3, BBB warns of fake invoice and subscription renewal scams, October 13, 2026, citing the BBB Scam Tracker Risk Report (2025 data).
4. U.S. Small Business Administration, National Veterans Small Business Week, November 9 to 13, 2026.